Going Down The Old Hometown
by JuHuaTai
Summary: After loosing his arm in a workplace accident, Eustass Kid must move back to his hometown. He found that in the years he had been gone, a lot of things has changed in the little town of Foosha; Like the fact that his rebellious high school sweetheart was married with kids, and that the town doctor was now a young, trouble, hot mess of a human being.
1. Chapter 1

WARNING: Kids with no filters, coarse language, and maybe a teeny tiny teensy element of mpreg that has been worded so that you can just ignore it or put it as adoption or surrogate situation and will continue to be treated as so.

Hi yes if you cannot tell yet this is a very self-indulgent fic. You have been warned.

When you sick and wasting away on the bed, you develop plot bunny and you write. Because what else can you do.

Hope you'd enjoy!

* * *

The measure of how far away Foosha was could be seen by the fact that it took the intercity train 8 hours before it finally arrived in the small, but no longer rustic station, the only one for the entire town. Kid almost couldn't recognize it, and if it wasn't for the mechanical announcing lady's voice telling them that this is indeed Foosha and therefore, his destination, he wouldn't have known any better.

He walked out of the train, one hand - and only one, he thought bitterly - carrying a rather large luggage filled with his meagre possession. His old roommate back in Raftel City, Killer, promised to send in the rest of his stuff soon, and well as making him promise he'd call and visit every now and then. Well, Heat and Wire had been the one who made him promise that one, but even if they hadn't begged and cried at his feet, Kid knew he would've done it all the same. He missed them already, and it's not even a whole day since he left.

The sun had only risen on the horizon, and that was all that was the same with this Foosha and the Foosha in his memory. The old announcement board was now replaced with a much more modern screen, showing the last two destination before the train reached its last, and long gone was the awful wooden floors that become soaked and stained whenever it was the rainy season. In its place were shiny tiles, all the way from the platform and to the exit.

Speaking of the exit, there's not a lot of people around there, only the people who had boarded with him making their way out or people from the outside making their way in. The red haired man looked around, watchful of the few people loitering around. Ace texted him 10 minutes ago that he had arrived, but so far, Kid hasn't seen anyone who closely resembled his friend. He didn't think he would change that much too; Kid know he sure as hell hadn't.

He was still glancing from side to side, making his way around the now unfamiliar layout of the station's entrance way and only focusing on finding a familiar dark hair and freckled face that he nearly bulldoze over a small child standing still in his way.

The boy, who couldn't look like he's older than 7 years old, stared up to him, blue eyes wide and head filled with fuzzy blonde tufts. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. It turns out to be a picture, which Kid recognize quickly to be a photo of himself, judging by the shock of red. When the boy looked up again, Kid noticed he had a plaster on one side of his jaw, and when he opened his mouth, he could also see that he's missing one of his front tooth, "Are you Eustass Kid?" he asked, voice squeaky as customary of that age.

Kid blinked, unsure as to why this little child would know him and why he would be looking for him, "Uh, yeah?"

The boy stared up at him, more specifically to his head, "Wow, you really do look like a giant ass tulip,"

Not even 5 minutes since he arrived and he's already been insulted by a little kid. It has to be a new record of sorts.

Still, the insult was familiar. Kid kneeled down, putting himself to the boy's eye level as best as he could. The blonde boy still had to crane up to meet his face, but at least it wasn't as extreme as before, "I'm guessing you're here to pick me up with Ace?" he asked, "Why is he bringing someone else's kid around? Is he babysitting you or something?"

The little boy cocked his head, frowned, and said, "You're not too bright, are you?"

That does it.

"Listen here, you little shit—"

"Sabo! There you are!"

Kid never get to finish his threat - and in retrospect it's a good thing because did he just threaten a 6 years old? - when the boy looked away from him, and Kid looked up to see a much more familiar person approaching them.

Ace hasn't changed much in the last 8 years, except for growing into his limbs and body, no longer gangly and awkward but more filled in, as evident through the thin shirt he was wearing in this sweltering summer heat. He even still had the same wavy short haircut, some of it which was now being tugged in the tiny hand of dark haired baby in his hold. The little boy from earlier ran off to him, clinging to his dark green cargo pants.

He patted the boy's head and looked back to Kid, smiling widely, "Kid! Holy shit it's so good to see you! Damn," he gave him a cursory gaze, grinning, "Look at you, the same old giant meathead, even after 8 years,"

"Least i can grow taller," he teased, measuring his 6'8 compared to Ace's 6'1. Not that that's short in anyway, but a lot of people are compared to Kid, "You don't change much either,"

His dark haired friend snorted, bouncing the little baby in his arm slightly, "Are you kidding me? The me from 8 years ago doesn't have little tykes like this swarming around me at any given moment," despite his words, his tone was affectionate, and his smile even more so. He reached down, ruffling the little blonde boy's head and making him giggle, "You've met Sabo, and this," he bounced the little baby in his arms, mouth occupied by a yellow pacifier and arm still relentlessly tugging on Ace's hair, "Is Luffy. Boys, this is Kid, my old friend from highschool. He's going to be living with us until he gets better,"

The little baby babbled, blowing spit bubbles around his pacifier, a reply of sorts, perhaps. The blonde boy, Sabo, moved closer to Ace, clinging to his leg, "Daddy, he called me a little shit,"

Wait, what?

"Well, did you call him names first, Sabo?"

"I just said he looked like a big ass tulip. But you called him that, Daddy,"

"Hold on," in reflex he lifted his left arm, but when he couldn't feel anything, it took Kid several seconds to remember that there was nothing there. He dropped his luggage instead, making his palm face the trio in front of him, "Did he just call you Daddy?"

Ace stopped mid reply, quirking his brow, "Uh, yeah?"

"Why?"

The freckled male gave him a confused look, and then traded one with Sabo. The boy shrugged, "I also called him not too bright, but you hafta admit, i'm onto something there,"

Luffy, the little baby babbled again, clutching a part of Ace's white shirt and putting it into his mouth.

* * *

Outside from the station, Foosha changed. The last time Kid was there, most of the road were simply dirt and soil, and the little shops were mostly private owned. Now, anywhere he looked, the roads had asphalt, so no more bumping your head in a ride and biting your tongue, and while most of the shop and diners were still plenty small and hold familiar names, new ones had popped up, names of modern chains and one large supermarket.

On the backseat, Luffy was fast asleep in his little baby carrier, holding onto both a reindeer doll and toy shaped like chicken drumsticks, which he was drooling liberally on. Right next to him, Sabo leaned against the glasses, humming a little song Kid recognize from a famous children's cartoon series. Once or twice during the drive he would piped up, calling out the name of one of the shops, and asked Ace if they can have a particular food for dinner. Ace's answer would always be the same, patient, "We'll see if Pops is up to it later,"

That hadn't stopped to amaze Kid.

"Sorry i didn't invite you to the wedding," he continued once Sabo was finished with his new set of list for what he wanted for dinner, and was back to humming his children cartoon song, "I actually had the invitation sent out, but the only address i had was the address you gave me before you left town the first time. They said you moved out and with the preparation and everything, i didn't have the time to track you down,"

"It's alright, i moved around a lot," his previous job had required him to, and his last stay in Raftel was shaping up to be the longest time he stayed in one place until his accident happened, "But hell, you, married with kids. Out of everything i thought would change in Foosha, that probably surprised me the most,"

Ace laughed, slowing down the car behind the traffic, "Wait 'till you see who i married," he said enigmatically.

The news that he lost his arm, and later his job had been a hard pill to swallow. Therapy took a lot out of him, and with no more source of income and most of his savings goes to the hospital bill, living in the expensive city was no longer an option. He didn't have any family back in Foosha, but he had some of his old friends, and after he laid out his situation, Ace, one of his best buddies growing up, had immediately told him that he's welcome to stay, at least until he got his footing back.

The house they stopped to was a modest one, following the tradition of small and quaint abodes in Foosha, with a little garden on the front littered with kids and pet toys combined, and probably a similar situation on the backyard, "We prepared the guest room already, so feel free to put your stuff in whenever you're ready," Ace told him as they walked in, while admonishing Sabo about running around the hallway, "It's on the first door to your left, near the living room, can't miss it. I'll just be in the boys' room, so if you need any help, just give me a holler. Sabo, go follow Kid and give him a hand, okay? I'm going to feed your brother,"

"Okay, Dad," Sabo nodded obediently as Ace walked away, leaving Kid alone with him. The red haired man watched as his friend walked away, cooing softly at the sleepy baby in his arm, "Holy crap," was all he managed to say. The Ace he remembered from years ago had been a loud mouthed, brash, and angry teenager. He had been the first out of the 'delinquents' group they were in to get a tattoo, a massive one right on his back, slept in every class it was a miracle he could even graduate, and was always itching for a fight. This Ace looks nothing like that.

Still, this parental look is a good look on him. This Ace is also obviously much happier than the angst-ridden one he left years ago.

The guest room was about the same size as his bedroom back in Raftel, and it was furnished with a lot more care than his. The moment Kid stepped into the room, he saw a large black pile on the bed, one that he first figured to be pillows but turns out to be a massive, stern eyed Great Dane.

"Dragon! There you are!" Sabo cheered next to him, rushing over to the bed to climb on top of the dog. Dragon - who the hell named their dog 'dragon?' - huffed, sniffing the top of Sabo's head before he finally seems to caught that someone else was in the room. He stared at Kid before climbing down from the bed, much to Sabo's vocal disappointment, then making his way over to circle around him.

"Uh," the tall man uttered, watching carefully as the dog sniffed on one of his shoes, "Nice doggy?"

The dog stared up at him with a look that can only be interpreted as 'insulted', and woofed lowly. Then he moved away and fell asleep on another corner.

"This is usually Dragon's bedroom," he heard from the bed, and Kid switched his gaze to Sabo, who climbed back down from the bed and over to the large dog to sit next to him. Dragon barely moved, only swinging his tail to thump against the floor, "Pops and Daddy let him sleep here. That was his way of telling you that you're allowed to stay here too,"

Okay, so he'd be sharing room with a dog. If he doesn't bring a woman at random in the middle of the night, then he's already a big improvement from Wire.

Unpacking with one arm was hard, and despite being nothing else but a little shit he had accused him off since meeting him, Sabo was nice enough to help him put things away and hold stuff for him once he began to struggle with some of the more complicated process of putting his stuff away. It was a blissful silence for a moment, with him directing his friend's son - boy, that's still going to be a weird concept down the road - where to put things, when the question finally came, "What happened to your arm?"

Kid paused during his putting away his - already pressed and attached to a hanger, thank god for Killer - various jackets, "It's an accident from work," he told the kid, glancing to the remaining stub that was a lot more pronounced now that he shed his jacket off and was only wearing a short sleeve shirt, "I work in a construction, and during a pretty sensitive process, some idiot accidentally changed the machine's trajectory. Didn't even realize what happened until i felt this blinding pain on my side, and everyone was fucking shouting at me. Look to my shoulder, one moment arm was there, the next, arm was on the floor,"

In retrospect, maybe he should've explained it in a more gentle way, and probably with less cursing. Sure, he always felt a little pissed off whenever he was asked that question, but he's talking to a 7 years old. A 7 years old whose parents were gracious enough to let him stay in their place with no cost until he recovers.

But Sabo didn't cry or become scared, like he thought he would, not even with a little flinch. Then again, this is Ace's kid. Any kid that comes from the guy who used to break people's bones with a pipe during a gang brawl was probably made out of sterner stuff, "You can't just sew it back?"

"I would if i could, but sadly, that's not how human body works, kid,"

The boy pouted, "I'm not a kid. I'm 5,"

Okay, even smaller than he expected then, "And i'm 25. You're a kid to me whether you like it or not, kiddo,"

"Your name is literally Kid, so there!"

"How is that a comeback?"

Sabo pouted a little, before throwing his face away with a squeaky harrumph. He still helped with the unpacking, however, so he may not be that pissed off at Kid.

An hour later found Kid in the living room, watching Sabo plays around with a toy dragon and a miniature medieval soldier, using the dog Dragon's back as some sort of a imaginary hill. One of the door opened and Ace walked out, dressed in a new shirt with Luffy in his arms also wearing a different pair of onesie, "Sorry it took me a while. Luffy was fussy and he threw up all over me," as he walked closer to the sofa that Kid occupied, the redhead noticed that he vaguely smelled of said vomit, but it was covered generously by the scent of baby powder and milk, "We're planning to eat out tonight, and since this is your first day back here, i can take your to see around town. My husband just texted me and said we'll meet him later in the diner,"

"Cool. Where are we eating?"

Ace ushered Sabo away to tell him to change his clothes, and sat down next to Kid once the boy left with his dog in tow. Ace grinned, "Where else is there?"

* * *

The extent of Foosha's growth were miles and miles away, and Ace only showed him only some of it, including their own hangout place, old town meeting points and even their old school and the new university branch from some Ivy league that settled here, and Ace's husband apparently taught in both places. He'd have more time to explore next time, he told Kid, but along the way, Sabo started demanding to be fed, and Luffy woke up from his slumber and started fussing at the mention of food despite only being fed not an hour ago.

"Kids all got black holes," Kid teased, as Ace frustratedly tries to calm them down, "Now who does that remind me of,"

Ace gave him a dry glare, and as if on cue, his own stomach rumbled.

The diner turns out to be RipOffs Bar, and Kid's eyes practically glowed when he saw the familiar sign. It barely changed at all when he grew up and even after he left, it still didn't change. The neon sign on top of the establishment was the same, the decor, and even the faces behind the counter and in front of it were all the same.

"Does my eyes deceive me? Eustass Kid!" he turned at the mention of his name, and found a large stocky woman moved from behind the bar. A smaller, petite woman next to her giggled, "Look at you, you city slicker! When Ace said you're coming back i couldn't belie— Oh, dear boy, i'm so sorry,"

The cheer on the woman's face died down, and it didn't take Kid long to realize that she had seen that one part of his body is not as complete as the other, "Nah, it's not that bad anymore, Dadan," he assured her, shrugging. It actually isn't, since it hasn't been a few months since the entire incident, and yet he still forgot that he's missing one arm now. Still, he just met up with the old people in his life, and Kid's not about to think about that. Meanwhile, Ace and Sabo had moved to one of the empty booths, and he saw Makino leaving from behind the counter to approach the little family, "Good to see you too, though. You don't look like you've aged a day since i last left you,"

"Hmph, you should've seen Shakky. Pity that you missed her, she's visiting the next town over with Rayleigh and won't be back until tomorrow night,"

Kid was about to say something else, when there's a crash from the kitchen and a loud voice squealing, "Eustass Kid is finally here?!" the kitchen door was slammed open and as soon as Kid landed his eyes on pink hair, he knew exactly who it was, "You piece of shit! No letter, no email, and yet you dare show your ugly mug!"

"Fuck you, you didn't send me shit too, Bonney," he shouted back with a toothy grin, and dissolved into laughter as Bonney launched herself up to him, hugging him tight. She was wearing a uniform that Kid recognize as the bar's waitress uniform, and with that and the fact that she didn't change made Kid feel like he never even left, "Still the skimpy barmaid after all these years?"

The girl barked a laugh, "Best gig around town, and working here means i get all the food i want," she cackled, making Dadan shout that 'You're supposed to pay for that, you brat!', "Nah, i also moonlight around town, figuring out what i'm gonna do. Felt like i'm the only one of our group that hasn't. You left town, Apoo tours around the continent making that racket he calls music, Drake joins the military, Hawkins opens up shop for his fortune telling, and even Mr. Dad over there finally realize his dream to be the best housewife in town,"

"Hey!" Ace protested, but never stopping from helping Sabo to climb up the seat.

People were beginning to look at their direction, and Dadan told them to pipe it down. Kid noticed that even the menu was the same, with some seasonal addition, and a bit hike in the price. It was nowhere near as expensive as it was back in Raftel, and just for that, he was grateful.

"So everyone's still here then," he asked Ace later, after they're done with their order and Makino left to take care of it. From the window overlooking the kitchen, Kid could see that his statement about Bonney just being the waitress wasn't true, as she was helping the old chef prepare some of the more basic menus and orders, "The old guys, this place. Felt like i never left,"

Ace smiled at him, quietly shushing a slumbering Luffy back to sleep against his chest while Sabo quietly colours the book he had brought with him from home. It didn't missed Kid's attention that the booth Ace chose was the very same they used to sit in back then, not them, with Bonney and the rest of the gang, but literally them, just the two of them. It brought back some much fond memories of sharing the same milkshake and a plate of fries, talking about everything and nothing. Kid remembered also sharing his dream of leaving the town here to Ace, wanting to see more of the world and asking if Ace would go with him.

Back then, his answer had been 'fuck yeah of course, ride or die', but they had been foolish teenagers. Foolish enough that they thought they'd last, even though that dating period ended as soon as they graduated and both realized they wanted different things out of life. They both wanted freedom, but they had too different of a definition. Kid's had been to travel around, which he did, until the accident robbed him of his ability to spread his wings. Ace never told him what his was - which in retrospect, should've clued Kid in that he wasn't Ace's endgame after all - but in just the few hours he had seen him again, Kid knew he had found it.

After Ace, there had been a few flings here and there in several other places he lived in, but there wasn't any of them that he was remotely interested in. Ace had been a friend first before he was a lover, and when they split, it was amicable, with a promise to contact each other again. The same couldn't be said to most of Kid's relationship.

"I missed this place," he said quietly, "Didn't think i would, when all i ever wanted then was to leave, but i did,"

"Foosha has that effect," the dark haired male across from him replied, "It's where i made all of my memories," he glanced at Kid when he said that, playful and mischievous.

Once upon a time, that look would send heat down his groin, and he'd pull the smaller male to the nearest alleyway. Now, Kid only quirked his brow, and snorted as he shook his head, "Aren't you supposed to have a husband?" he asked, before frowning, "Wait, did you husband even know that we used to date?" Ace did mention during the drive over that his husband had been the one who suggested to take Kid in after Ace explained his situation, but while Kid was gracious for it, he also wondered if he knew about that little detail of their past when he made the offer.

His worries were washed out by Ace's laughter, toned down only because he had a slumbering baby on his chest. Not that it mattered, Luffy had slept through Bonney's shouting, and that can wake up the dead, "Oh, he knows. He was there when we used to date. After 8 years together and 2 kids, i hope he can tell that there's nothing to worry about,"

"What do you mean he was there when we date? Who—"

"It means that his husband was there to witness your rather raunchy style of dating, and he had been there when you two ended your relationship. Coincidentally, that had been the start of their relationship in return,"

The new voice startled Kid, and he turned to see a familiar tired face smiling down at him, a pair of glasses hiding sky blue orbs underneath hooded eyes, "It's good to see you again, Kid. Even if the circumstances of your return was less than ideal,"

It was that formal tone that jogged his memory, along with the brief memory of that friendly smile turning into a rather angry frown of disappointment, "Mr. Newgate? That you?" he gasped, finally putting a name to the familiar face. Mr. Newgate had been a young teacher fresh out of university back when Kid was still in high school, teaching English and was even his homeroom teacher on his senior year. Out of everyone Kid met today, he had changed the most, as his clean cut look was now replaced with stubbles and he had formed his haircut into something more formal yet still resembling the old mohawk he used to wear, the same one that used to have his student nicknaming him 'pineapple'.

…Not that it's any better now.

Mr. Newgate grimaced, though there's a hint of humour on his expression, "Being called Mr. Newgate reminded me too much of the unfortunate days i had you as a student. Just call me Marco, Kid," he said with a little chuckle, "I hope you are settling in well. Sorry i couldn't pick you up from the station, but some of my students needed an extra lesson and i have promised to spare them the time,"

"Nah, it's alright— Wait, why would you pick me up from the station? I thought Ace was—"

Ace was biting his lower lips now, quivering in a silent laughter, and the expression on Marco's face was no better. Kid looked in between them, and even to Sabo, who was still colouring on his book, occasionally scratching his blond—

Blond hair.

"You married our goddamn homeroom teacher?!"

"I would appreciate it if you watch your language around my children, Kid, they're at a very impressionable age,"

Okay, so maybe that shouldn't be all that surprising. Even back during high school, Marco - and it's going to be weird thinking of him like that when he's been Mr. Newgate in nearly a decade - despite being a teacher, was close to their juvenile group. He had been the only teacher who hadn't written them off entirely as a lost cause, and it was in fact due to his help and encouragement that he managed to graduate in the first place. After his and Ace's break up and his announcing his intention to leave town to the group, Bonney had complained that Ace came to Marco of all people for comfort, instead of any of them.

It seems like something else must've culminated from that.

Soon, the food arrived, and Kid learned that Foosha may changed bit by bit, but RipOff Bar was frozen in time, down to its food. His favorite meatlover pizza still had the same density and flavor to it, down to the crunchy base and the rich, sweet tomato. Makino's coffee was still one of the best there is, at least, he's sure it is if he's allowed to take it, but unfortunately, his medication prevents him from consuming any sort of caffeine. Still, the smell from Marco's cup was heavenly, and despite stuffing his face full with a large plate of creamy pizza, it made his mouth water.

Dinner with the little family was pleasant, and it helps Kid to keep up to date with what he had missed out on for the last 8 years. His old gang was still around, minus Apoo, who has a moderately known band and was struggling to make it even bigger, and while most had their own lives, they promised to pop in once in a while to check in on him. Marco and Ace got married nearly two years after he left, and though Marco still taught in their high school, he was also one of the lectures for the new university branch, which kept him busy most of the time. These days Sabo and Luffy ate up most of Ace's time, but before the two of them, he used to work in the local animal shelter, which is how Dragon came to their house. He planned to return once Luffy was old enough.

In the middle of this conversation, Kid excused himself to the bathroom, and found that even that detail did not change from his memory. He would've reminisce further if his bladder hadn't been demanding attention, so he took the furthest urinal and began to painstaking process of dealing with zipper with only one hand. The loss of his arm inconvenience him is a lot of ways, and going to the public bathroom has become one of it.

In his haste and panic that he might not make it in time, Kid was barely aware of his surrounding, but once he finally succeed, he finally noticed the one closed bathroom stall and the low sound of panting. Living in the big city has taught him many things that could've happened in the men's restroom, and he was about to curse his luck - as well as curse out whoever it is because hey, this is a family restaurant and there's children outside - when the panting stopped, and was replaced with a rather horrible sound of retching.

"You okay in there?" he called out, after the person stopped sounding like they're trying to regurgitate their entire organ out, and was now panting and sniffling even harder than before, "You had food poisoning or something? Need an ambulance?" He never heard of anyone being sick after eating from RipOff, because Shakky is really tight about the quality of her products.

There's no reply, and Kid was too focused in waiting for one that he didn't realize he had long since stopped producing streams of bodily waste.

After a moment, there's a telltale sound of the toilet being flushed, but even as he waited until someone came out of the closed stall, no one ever did. He quickly tug himself back to his pants, making his way over to the closed stall door and pressing his ear against it. There's still the sound of weak panting, and briefly worry clouded his mind, "Hey, you sure you're okay in there?" he called again, knocking on the locked door, "You didn't pass out or something did you?" Again, no reply.

The red head was about to knock again when the door was suddenly thrown open and Kid nearly gaped.

The term 'tall, dark and handsome' was probably created for this specific man. Tanned, flushed skin, cat-like eyes, lean body, and a handsome face not even his feverish state and those horrible eye bags can hide. In fact, not even the horrid smell of bile that wafted from behind him deter Kid in anyway, nor does the fact that he was faced with the most dark, tired, enticing yet angry pair of eyes, "Yes, i'm fine," the stranger gritted out, "Now can you please shut the hell up,"

It took Kid a moment and a push for him to finally return to reality, watching as the stranger stumbled towards the sink. He probably should be offended, but damn, even that skinny backside was amazing, "Just tryin' to help," he said lamely, "You sure you don't want a doctor or something?' He continued to watched as the man turned the tap on and scooped the running water into his palm, shovelling them into his mouth and gargle. He did this several times, then splashing his face, spitting the left over water out. It should be a pretty disgusting sight, and yet Kid's eyes couldn't help following the little beads of water that trailed down from his jaw and absorbed by his hoodie.

The stranger then wiped his face with his own sleeve, and he's a mess, but he's a hot mess, "I'm sure," he groused out, fixing Kid with another dry glare, "And i am a doctor,"

Which made Kid stare even longer because there is absolutely no way. Each of his exposed hand was full of tattoos - and he just realized that the writing on his knuckles spelled out 'death', not even his younger emo stuff went that far - he had no less than 3 visible piercings, and he's pretty sure this man is a patient more than he is a doctor.

in his shocked silence, the stranger once again tried to move, but he ended up keeling over on his way to the doorway. Kid was immediately on high alert, rushing over to the man. He was hissing and grimacing, face twisted in pain, "Fuck," the raven haired man hissed softly, clutching on to his stomach tightly. Kid placed a hand on his shoulder, and could feel him shaking.

"Dude, i don't care if you're a doctor, i'm calling the hospital—"

"Don't you dare!" the man half-shouted, groaning in the end of his sentence, "It's nothing, trust me. It's… it's ulcers, i can see it from the vomit. I just had to take a medicine and it'll take care of itself,"

Yet despite his words, he was still panting and shivering, and if Kid hadn't been right next to him, he would've lost his balance and fell to the floor. He contemplated carrying the stubborn sick man, but as soon as he moved his arm, Kid remembered. Not for the first time, he cursed at his condition, and settled by pulling the man's arm over his shoulder and pulling him to lean over, "I don't care, doc," he hissed out, pushing the door open, "You're getting some help and that's it,"

As soon as he stumbled out of the door, Dadan took sight of it, and immediately raised enough ruckus to alert everyone else, "Oh my god, what happened?! Makino, call an ambulance!" The old woman cried, before making her way over, "What in the name of— Dr. Trafalgar!"

So he really is a doctor, "Found him like this in the bathroom," Kid told her, adjusting his grip on the lean man. Underneath his hand, Kid could feel the man's ribs pressing unto his palm. For a doctor, he sure as hell ain't taking care of his own health, "He said it's ulcers, think you got something for him?"

She didn't, understandably, but they didn't have to worry too much as the ambulance came not soon after. The paramedic that came in, wearing a cap that says 'Penguin' across it cursed the moment he entered the door and saw Dr. Trafalgar, "He said he's resting at home, why the hell did i even believe him?" Kid hear him mutter before carting the doctor away. The entire event happened in less than 5 minutes, and the redhead was still in daze when it all ended.

"Kid, are you alright?" Ace asked as he walked up to his side, both hands clamped down on Sabo's shoulder. Back on their table, Marco was holding Luffy, who was fussing and crying, probably startled by all of the commotion, "What just happened?"

Kid could only shook his head, staring at the rapidly distancing ambulance.

From right next to him, Sabo announced, "Yuck, your zipper's down,"

And that concludes Eustass Kid's first day back in Foosha.

* * *

Please tell me what you think of this fic so far! Thanks for reading and hope you liked it!


	2. Chapter 2

Back in Raftel with his old roommates, the rules of breakfast goes like this: there are no rules.

Killer, the only morning person amongst them - the only responsible one, more like - would already be standing in front of the stove at 7 in the morning, still wearing a sweaty shirt from his morning run. The smell of bacon and egg that he'd make for himself would wake the other three, and they would proceed to steal little bits and pieces from the still sizzling pan, despite the man berating them that 'if they're hungry, go get their own'. He was a little more lenient when it comes to toast, if only because they're easier to make again for himself.

Kid, Heat, and Wire doesn't care much for healthy and balanced diet, and proceed to make whatever it is they felt like that morning. Kid would always opted for sugary cereal, a mix of them in fact, doused with milk, and he would call Heat a heathen while he's at it, for adding milk after he poured in the cereal and make a soggy mess of his breakfast. Sometimes, when he's hungover, he would go for ice cream for breakfast, or beg Killer for some sunny side-up egg cooked over bacon fat. Coffee only entered their system on their way to the construction site, from that little bakery on the side of the street with the cute cashier that likes to flirt with Wire.

Mornings never had any restrictions, not where they get to eat their breakfast - he sometimes brought his cereal to shower with him - not rule about when you can take your breakfast - hangovers sometimes mean breakfast is 1 pm in the afternoon - and there's certainly no etiquette for it. He can drink his cereal if he wanted to, or just chew on his egg without any utensil because he had forgotten to wash the dishes for the last 3 days and no one else bothered to.

It was the lifestyle of a quartet of bachelors, so obviously the same could not be said about the Newgate-Portgas household.

At 6.30 am, Kid was already woken up by banging from the kitchen, and he entered the dining room adjoining it to find the house's occupants already awake and dressed. On the dining table was Sabo, dressed in some sort of a uniform complete with a navy blue hat, talking to Luffy about some story or another. Luffy sat next to him on a tall baby chair, babbling nonsensically back to Sabo, looking as if the two of them were having a conversation that only made sense for both sides. Directly on their opposite was a tall newspaper, held up above the table by a pair of disembodied hands.

The tall newspaper fell, to reveal Marco behind it, dressed in a pressed dress shirt and a tie to match, glasses perched on his nose. For a brief moment, Kid reached down to tug his uniform in properly, until he remembered that he's not wearing a uniform, he's no longer in school and that the man was no longer his teacher.

Talk about muscle memory.

"Ah, you're awake," the blonde greeted him, folding the newspaper away, "Ace wanted to let you sleep in, but i disagree. It would be much more beneficial for your health to wake up early," he placed the now folded papers next to him, pulling in its place a mug of what Kid would guess to be coffee, "Take a seat wherever you like and help yourself with breakfast,"

Kid glanced at the aforementioned breakfast laid on the table, noting that while there's not a lot, he could still hear sounds from the kitchen, which means that there are more to come. There's two different brands of cereals, and not even the good kind of cereal, with colourful balls and too much sugar, but the bland ones that promotes extra vitamin and fibre. A plate of eggs and bacons was placed right next to it at least, though much to Kid's absolute distaste, there's also a bowl of steamed vegetables next to it.

He sat down next to Sabo - since he's pretty sure that the seat next to Marco's got to be Ace's - and was about to reach over for the bacons when he heard his ex-teacher clear his throat, "I hope you're not thinking of only consuming fat and skipping everything else,"

The redhead paused, glancing at the plate and the disapproving look levelled at him, "I, uh, don't usually eat my veggies during breakfast,"

He liked to think he ate his veggies _never_.

Suddenly, Sabo whipped his head to his direction, wearing a large cheeky grin on his face and looking mighty pleased with himself, "You don't?!" he asked with full glee, though the cause for the excitement was lost to Kid, "Pops, he doesn't eat veggies for breakfast! See, i told you no one does!"

Across from the table, Marco looked even less pleased, giving Kid a piercing glare not unlike one he would usually give him whenever a high-school age Kid was caught misbehaving.

It's been 8 years, but oh boy, that actually still shake him a little.

"I mean, uh, not every morning, just every 2 mornings. And i didn't have any yesterday so that means i have to have some today," Kid added hastily, making sure to be seen taking some of the offered greens to his plate right next to the bacons. He grimaced as soon as Marco shifted his gaze away from him and to his eldest.

"Yet, as you can see, Sabo, he does,"

Sabo pouted, looking back down to his bowl of cereal sulkily before a hand was placed on top of his fuzzy head. A plate suddenly came into Kid's line of focus, followed by a mouthwatering scent of fresh berries and melting butter, "Oh, let him live a little, Marco. Not eating gross greens once in a while won't hurt anyone," Ace's voice came fleeting in from behind their backs, and after depositing no less than 3 small jars of what looks like baby foods on the table attached to Luffy's baby chair, he rounded the table and entered Kid's line of vision.

Kid eyed the content on the newly deposited plate - thick slices of french toast topped with drizzles of butter and berries - hungrily, and heard Marco groan from across his seat, "Ace, I am just trying to introduce healthy and balanced diet to our children, is that so wrong?"

"Well, it's bit too much to have him eat healthy all the time. It's called '5 a day', Marco, not 5 a breakfast, lunch and dinner,"

Marco lowered his head slightly, mumbling, "As if anyone in this house, aside from me, only eats during breakfast, lunch, and dinner,"

"Hmm, _someone_ is dangerously close to losing their portion of toast this morning. I might have to give it to Dragon instead," Ace drawled, balancing the plate on his hand, the food on it identical to the one Kid has been eyeballing for a while and Sabo's starting to take bits out of, "Too bad, i even stuffed them with his favorite brand of cream cheese this morning, because _someone_ kept saying he's been craving some,"

Once Sabo was finished taking his cut, Kid deposited the rest to his own plate, just in time to catch his ex-teacher sighing defeatedly with a pinched expression behind his coffee cup, "…You know dogs can't eat cream cheese,"

Ace grinned victoriously, depositing the - significantly better looking - toast in front of Marco. Kid saw him leaning down, thinking that he's going to continue on with his teasing when Marco turned and gave Ace a chaste kiss on his lips. He did it once, twice, and on the third time, they had their lips attached to each other's for far longer than Kid was comfortable of seeing.

He looked down to his plate, distracting himself with tasty looking french toast and rich, fatty bacon. But eating breakfast, no matter how delicious the food is, was rather difficult when every time you as much as raise your head a little, you notice that your childhood friend was inching down closer and closer to his husband, your old teacher, that there doesn't seem to be any space left in between them.

Kid took one bite of his rich toast, topped with one slice of bacon, and dared himself to look up. If Ace moved any closer in, he would've ended up on Marco's lap, and the only salvation Kid can take out of this situation, is that at least he hadn't seen any tongues involved.

Meanwhile, next to him, Sabo kept eating with gusto, and Luffy reached over for one of the baby food jar and started biting on the jar's lid with a mouth that only consist of gums and very little amount of teeth. Neither seems perturbed by this display.

When they finally separated, Ace took in a shaky breath and sat down, not bothering to hide the pleased smile on his lips. Marco didn't even seem ruffled, though Kid caught him licking his lower lips before he dug in to his own breakfast.

"Holy fuck,"

"Pops, Daddy, Mr. Eustass said a bad word,"

* * *

"So, what's your plan for the day?"

Kid turned from watching over Luffy to Ace, who was walking back into the dining room. Marco and Sabo already left earlier for school, to teach and study respectively, which left Ace to clean up the remnants of the morning's breakfast. Kid would've help if he could - or as he put it, give him a hand if he didn't only have one left - so instead, he volunteered to watch over Luffy while Ace busied himself with the dirty dishes.

Not that Luffy required much effort to be looked over. All Kid had to do the entire time was sit in front of him to open the jars of baby food and let the infant chug down the content himself. No mouth feeding necessary, and definitely no fussing around like he often saw in television or other children. Right now, there's about 4 empty jar of baby food next to his elbow, and Luffy was still staring hungrily at the 5th opened jar in his hand.

Kid handed the jar over - which was swiped away aggressively like the other ones before it - before replying, "I need to go to the general hospital. My old doctor back in Raftel gave me this recommendation letter i need to give to his colleague here, and told me to set up a check up schedule with him for my recovery and how to proceed,"

"Would a hospital in a small town like this be enough? I mean, from what i was told, they mostly deals with elderly with aching joints and children with flu, not necessarily grievous body harm,"

"It's not like i need therapy anymore, i did enough of it back in Raftel," Kid said with a grimace, remembering all those days of absolute pain, both in literal and metaphorical sense, "Nowadays, i think it's just to make sure i don't have infection or nerve damage or something. Plus, i need to get a clearance from a physician if i'm wanted to get a job. I barely have anything left in my bank account, and all of this hospital pay is going to drain even more out of me,"

In front of him, Ace frowned, "Kid, you know you can worry about that later and focus more on healing, right? That's why Marco and i offered to have you stay here in the first place, so you can at least have someone look after you. Hell, Bonney and the others said they wanted to help however they can,"

"Ace, you know me, i'm not going to just accept handouts—"

"It's not, it's just us wanting to help an old friend in need," Ace told him firmly, lips pinched and eyes hard. The angry look caused a twinge of familiarity in the back of Kid's mind, but somehow, it looks different. It was less a temperamental rage like he was used to seeing, and more akin to a scolding. It's the look he often saw on adults when it comes to misbehaving children, stern yet patient. Like a parent would give their child.

Even if he just saw the evidence this morning - heck, one of them was still next to him - Kid was still surprised when his mind reminded him over and over again that Ace is a parent now instead of a high school hooligan.

But although that one detail changed, his words were still rooted by the same fierce loyalty he'd recognize anywhere. 8 years ago, Kid had a group of friends who he shared all sorts of pain and joy with, and after leaving and coming back here, even if he had yet to meet with the rest, he at least knew that he still has them in his life.

There's a sense of elation in his chest, which caused a tug on the corners of his mouth.

A thud signalled him that Luffy was once again finished with his breakfast, and true enough, when Kid glanced over, the dark haired boy was enthusiastically banging the bottom of the jar against the little table on his chair and reaching over for another one, "Fine. Do what you guys want, but don't think i'm not going to repay it all. I'm not some charity case just because i lost a goddamn arm," he sighed, reaching over for the pile of baby food jars and opening it easily between his fingers in front of Ace, just to prove a point. It slipped a few times between his thumb and pointer before he finally get a decent grip on it and rotated the jar open.

The frown on Ace's face disappeared immediately in favour of stifling his laughter.

"Laugh all you want, you know i will. And i'm going to start out repaying all of you from now, starting from babysitting your hell spawn if i have to,"

"Even if i agree with you, don't let Marco hear you call them that. He liked to think that he's the reasonable authority figure around here, but he's softer than a soggy marshmallow when it comes to Sabo and Luffy. I'm usually the bad guy,"

It was proven true just a few minutes later. Luffy finished his new jar in record time, but before Kid could assist the boy into another bout of gluttony, Ace walked over and swooped his son up from his chair, clicking his tongue, "No, no, you don't get to eat more than 5, Luffy, or else you'd be spoilt for your formula later," the baby let out a displeased noise, as if understanding that he's being refused, scrunching up his face and looking like he's ready to throw a tantrum.

Ace sighed, tightening his hold around Luffy when the baby began sniffling, which quickly turned into an ear-piercing bawling, "I can take you to the hospital, but i hope that appointment of yours won't be for anytime soon. He's always like this every morning after breakfast,"

"I've heard of kids throwing tantrum about not wanting to eat, this might be the first time i've heard of one throwing a tantrum because he wanted to _keep_ eating,"

"And for having bath times, for too long silence, and for not being allowed to climb up furnitures, or petting every animal he came across, for not being carried by every stranger he saw, for not being allowed to eat mine, Marco or Sabo's hair, aaand my absolute favorite, for not being allowed to play with his dirty diaper. I could go on, but we need to move sometime around this century. Like you said, hell spawn," the freckled male shook his head in exasperation, even if he gave the side of Luffy's reddening cheeks a quick peck afterwards, "But my cute little hellspawn. You'd want one too in the future,"

Luffy let out another piercing scream, as rivulets of tears dripped down from both corners of his eyes.

Kid took one look at that, and decided that no, he probably won't.

* * *

When Kid arrived in the hospital nearly half an hour late for his appointment, he didn't even have a chance to apologize to the receptionist when the cheery looking green haired nurse took one look behind him, saw Ace and a now slumbering Luffy in his hold, and gave him a pitying glance, "You're the one living with Ace and Professor Newgate, right? It's okay, everyone know that their boys are… quite a handful in the morning,"

"Understatement of the goddamn century, sister,"

(Calming Luffy down took exactly an hour, and it was only because it was time to feed him his baby formula. He latched on the nipple like a starving man, chugging down the entirety of 3 large bottles that Kid was sure should only be used for babies older than him.

"And he does this… 3 times a day?"

"The baby food jar? Yes. The bottles, no. This can go up to 6 times a day. He goes through milk cans faster than we went through condoms in a long weekend during high school,"

"THE FU—ACE!"

"What? It's not like Luffy can understand yet. What is he gonna do, tell his Pops? Marco and i are way worse than you and i ever was,"

"I DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT! HOW DID WE GO FROM MILK BOTTLES TO THIS TOPIC?!")

The receptionist nurse, Camie, let out a little giggle. She read through Kid's letter, had him sign a few paperwork and gestured him over to the waiting room, "I've pen you in, and the doctor shouldn't take long. You're in luck, there's only about 2 other patients before you,"

Instead of making his way immediately to the waiting area, Kid decided to take the long way around to take in his surrounding, as he was prone to do since yesterday. He came here quite often back in high school, for various injuries from brawls or just adolescence shenanigans, and aside from some more modern equipments lying about and a new pristine hall, there doesn't seem to be much difference.

Then again, the hospital was never that big in the first place. It definitely wasn't as big as the hospital back in Raftel - in fact, he's pretty sure that the entire place can fit in of their specialized wings - and back then, aside from the grumpy old physician who often tended to him, Dr. Crocus, he recalled that there's only 3 or 4 others around. It looks more like a clinic than a general hospital, but considering the low amount of population around, it's probably justified.

He had only reach a silver plaque that displays all of the hospital's doctor's names when Ace calls for him, "Do you need me to stick around? For moral support?"

"Probably if the doctor start taking out those big ass needles, though i doubt it," he said, hearing Ace snort at his little joke, "But i'll be fine. You got someplace else to be?"

The raven haired male nodded, running his hand through Luffy's very soft hair, "I need to pick up my neighbour's kids before he leaves for work. He understood that i'll be late, but he can't stay any longer. I'll be back here as soon as i got them,"

"Your neighbour's kids?"

"Yup. Single dad with two toddlers, one of Marco's co-worker from the university. He didn't trust hired babysitters, and his eldest is pretty much one of the few people in this world that can entertain Luffy for a long period of time, so it's convenient for us. Plus he keeps insisting to pay for his kids,"

"Huh, Bonney wasn't kidding when she said you turned out to be the best housewife in town,"

Ace left afterwards - though not before giving him a very well placed kick on the shin - and Kid turned his attention back to the name plaques, grimacing and rubbing his sore leg.

Dr. Crocus' name was still up there - how old is he now, 100? - although the other 3 from before was gone, replaced by some names he didn't recognize. Aside from the 4 new physician names, there's a couple of names that was noted to be medical students doing their residency instead of a full-fledge practitioner, and on the very bottom, with the shiniest - probably also newest - plate was a name was attached to several degrees and specialties.

"Cardiology, Internal medicine, Neurosurgery, Immunology, Radiology, what wasn't this guy? What is even half of this thing?" the redhead mumbled to himself, narrowing his eyes at every term, "Probably ancient as shit. Don't these sort of things takes like 10 years to study or something?"

He glanced to the name attached to all of those terms and qualifications, and nodded to himself, "Trafalgar Law. Yeah, that sounds like an old man's name,"

Though he felt like he heard it before. Where was it?

Time passed as the walked around some more, mindlessly exploring the hospital's lobby and noting the differences he could spot - like the vending machine, much to his joy - when his name was called again by Camie, "Eustass Kid? the doctor is waiting for you in his office. Room 2, just straight to the right from here," Kid thanked the receptionist, before making his way over.

After so many days staying in the hospital during recovery and after so many doctors he had seen during his treatment, Kid didn't really know what to expect now. He half expected Dr. Crocus to be the one attending to him throughout the rest of his recovery, but his doctor back in Raftel noted that the Doctor he was giving his case to is a young one, brilliant and newly moved to the area. Crocus was probably older than time itself by now, so that left Kid with absolutely nothing to go with.

One thing for sure, Kid didn't expect the sickly hot guy from RipOff bar yesterday to be standing in the middle of Room 2, holding a clipboard and dressed in a white lab coat, looking every inch like a doctor he claimed he was yesterday but Kid still had a hard time believing in.

The doctor spoke in a prim tone that betrayed the underlying boredom evident in his eyes when he looked up, "Hello, Mr. Eustass, i am Doctor Trafalgar, who will be assisting you today. Nurse Camie has told me of your condition and i—" he trailed off as soon as he caught sight of Kid, eyes wide and mouth agape. He looked as shocked as Kid felt, and they probably wore a near identical expression.

Kid closed his mouth fast enough to hear the resounding 'click' of his lower row teeth meeting the upper one.

One thing he knows now.

Dr. Trafalgar Law is most definitely _not fucking ancient._

* * *

I wish there will be a chapter in the future showing Dragon struggling to raise a baby Luffy no matter how short of a time it may be. Or just Garp doing it.

Not a lot of KidLaw just yet but this will be fixed in the next chap, guarantee (i mean, the ending kind of guarantee it, right?)

Anyway.

Thanks for the kudos, comments and for reading! Sorry if i've been leaving this fic (and the other ones, but this seems to have the longest update time) for so long, i've been on holiday, but now i'm back!

Hope you liked it!


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